When Plans Go Belly Up

It started last night, we packed up to go to grandma's house and planned to head down to SLC first thing in the morning and spend the night there. We were geared up to go to Aunt Millie's Bridal Shower. Heidi even picked out her new blue "hippie" dress (which is cute) to wear to her first grown up party. She was so excited to be considered a big girl. Heidi also wanted to show the family her baby sister since most have only seen Anastasia in pictures. I was really looking forward to the visit.

Well, at 4:30 am this morning, Anastasia had a fever. Just like that our plans came to a grinding halt. Heidi Anne was devastated. She wanted to see Grandma and her Aunts. (She adores her Aunts). 

Normally, Rory is okay when I give Anastasia attention. He'll go off and just play with his toys knowing I'll spend time with him when she doesn't need me anymore, Well, it wasn't a normal day. Rory noticed Anastasia was getting even more attention than normal. Every time she got a bottle he HAD to have one at the exact same time. If she was being held, well he wanted up as well. To make things easier, I rocked in a chair with a baby on each side of me. Both the babies were getting the attention they wanted. 

Just when I thought I had this sick day figured out, I was given a curve ball in the late afternoon. Heidi Anne caught a stomach bug. (Naturally, she told me after I ordered pizza as a way to say thank you to her for being such a trooper about missing the party and having my time consumed by the babies). 

I spent the night singing lullabies, watching Cinderella (the new version with Lily James), and splitting my time between three little ones. I got up early at 4:30 am to tend to a sick baby, now I'm sitting on the sofa staying up late with a sick Heidi Anne. It's been a long day. Nowhere near the day I was planning on having. But that's life I guess. Let's hope Anastasia sleeps longer then 4:30 am tomorrow. 

It's odd but these are the days where I'm glad to be a stay at home mom and grateful that Char works hard to make sure we can afford for me to be here. They won't remember the day where everyone wanted and received cuddles. Or that I was up for nearly 20 hours straight to tend to everyone's needs. That my voice went horse from singing Itsy Bitsy Spider or Lavender's Blue (Dilly Dilly). I might not even remember it if I didn't write it down to be honest. But I need to be reminded that I'm doing my best at this mommy thing. (And why on Earth I would make Heidi Anne miss her first big girl party.) 

Wegener Family Reunion in Driggs

Every summer there is a Wegener family reunion up the Idaho Tetons. We're not able to go every year but we made it this time! Last time we went it was 2 years ago and all we had was Heidi Anne. This year we had 3 kids with 2 of them younger than 16 months old. A lot can happen in just 2 years!

The Teton valley is lovely and full of outdoor activities; close to Yellowstone, the Teton forest, and Jackson Hole. We tend to stay in the Diggs / Victor area. (My friend Valerie has a blog called 51 Cent Adventures and she would have a field day in the Tetons. Her blog is about how to travel and have adventures on a low budget.) 

People went; paddle boarding, kayaking, biking, hiking, (long and short ones), scenic drives, strolls around the cabin or just played outside. I couldn't participate in much of the outdoor things this year. Rory has a fear of walking on grass and hates wearing shoes. But he would sit / walk on a quilt on the grass. So there was some progress made. Anastasia has baby skin and we forgot baby sunblock. Therefore, I trended to the babies and read a bit.

Grandpa and Char took Heidi Anne fishing for the very first time. She's been wanting to go since she was 5. 

The fishing site was packed (all the sites where). Amazingly, she actually caught her very first fish.

 It may have been little but at least she got one. According to Char, she refused to touch it, the -hand in the picture is Char's not Heidi's. Needless to say, we didn't have any fish for dinner that night. 

On Friday night everyone, (except Char and I because we didn't arrive on time), went to Bar J Wranglers and explored Jackson Hole. We went on Sunday night, everyone helped to watch Anastasia, Heidi, and Rory, making it our first date night in over 18 months. We went despite Char not feeling 100% 

We started off our date by running to the store and getting some baby rice. (Fun times, right?). Then we went to Main Street, it was packed with people! We explored the little stores, admired the art work in the galleries, got a small piece of fudge, and looked through a bookstore. 

After our time on Main Street we went to the Bar J Wranglers. Which is a chuck wagon like dinner and this group of men crack jokes and sing Western music. Char got a stake and I got chicken. It was a good show but we had to leave early because Char kept feeling worse and worse. We took a lovely drive back up to the cabin.

On the Fourth of July everyone (but me, Rory, and Anastasia) went to the Victor Parade. The kids got LOTS of treats from the parade. 

While at the parade Heidi Anne and her cousins got their face painted. Heidi and her little cousin H both got their faces painted like tigers. 




Cousin A got an adorable butterfly on her face. The paint kept smearing so it was on just long enough for the kids to enjoy it and get fun pictures taken. 

Per tradition tried to get Huckleberry shakes. Again, everyone one went (except Char, Rory and Anastasia). Heidi and I tagged along with Grandma and Grandpa. Max never had a Huckleberry shake before and was looking forward to it. Unfortunately, the first place we went to was out of Huckleberries. So we went to good ol' reliable Victor Emporium.  

After dinner on the 4th of July, Cousin A and Heidi Anne (with Grandpa in tow) put on a little performance for us. They've started to do this at every gathering. The show came to an abrupt end when the sprinklers came on, getting them wet. Someone turned off the sprinklers and Aunt E turned on some music which prompted the girls to start dancing. Next thing you know Aunt M got her Bluetooth speaker and people joined in on the dancing. It was like a family flash mob. 

We were going to take Heidi Anne to see the firework show but Anastasia wouldn't go down. We found out the fireworks would be 5 miles away and we should be able to see them from the cabin. They wouldn't be as big or with the music but we could still watch them. The show didn't start until 10:20, as we're waiting outside in the dark Heidi declares she's tired, that was at 10:18 pm. We convinced her to wait a little longer. It was a real pretty performance, worth staying up for.

The very next morning we headed home based on the smiles from all the grandkids in the family, they all had fun. Even Anastasia smiled a little for the camera. 

Top: Anastasia, Cousin A, and Heidi Anne
Bottom: Rory, Cousin G, and Cousin H